Chapter Text
August 21st
4:17 am
He should be up yet.
His schedule said 5:30
He lately found himself skipping his schedule more than what he would like to.
Might as well start with the right foot then.
He got up. Turned the shower on and stepped in. He felt unusually tired, probably because of the insane amount of exercise he had been doing and the little he had been eating. But, he could figure it out later.
Immediately after stepping out of the shower, he neatly placed a bandana over his long black hair which had been uncomfortably brushing his eyes for the past days. He should cut it.
Another one for the to do list.
Aphelios took a wide box out of his drawer, which held almost every single expensive brand of skincare products you could think about.
Serums, face washes, exfoliants, hyaluronic acids, retinol, everything.
He had to . His skin had to be perfect and god forbid he ever had a pimple on his face while on contest week cause he would probably break down and refuse to step into the ice until it was completely gone. Spoiler alert: it happened.
When he finished, he put everything back into place, took the box and placed it back into the drawer he took it from.
If he was being honest, he was too tired to come up with a fashionable outfit, so he just took a pair of baggy jeans and a white crop top that had “dump him” printed over it with a funky typography like if the letters had been cut out of a magazine.
He placed an oversized sweatshirt over it and finished the look with a pair of chunky platform boots, pulling it all together with matching earrings for each one of the 4 earrings and industrial on the right and only two on the left ear, he got some delicate silver rings and bracelets. He also placed his messy hair in an even messier ponytail and called it a day. And of course, he couldn’t miss his lip ring, the only revelous thing he ever did.
For the mediocre amount of effort and time he dedicated to the outfit, it turned out pretty fine.
4:27 am
Damn
He decided it would be better to get the day going.
He got down into the kitchen and fixed himself a thermo full of coffee. Black. Nothing on it. He was gonna need it.
The boy looked at the fridge, it had two big schedules on it. One for Alune, one for Aphelios.
It had every single step they should follow in order for their life to succeed. And it started from 5am to 11pm.
Maybe he couldn’t follow it by hour now since he did start his day an hour earlier, but he could follow the assignments.
Breakfast
Ok, never mind.
He sighed heavily and turned his attention back to his coffee, it’s not like he hadn’t been skipping steps on the schedule or meals before.
It's fine.
“What the hell are you doing up?”
Fuck, it’s not fine.
Aphelios jumped in his place, almost spilling some of the coffee he was holding. He sighed and reached to his pounding chest with one hand, quickly turning around to acknowledge the not very kind person who almost gave him a heart attack.
Unfortunately, she gave birth to him.
“Mom, you scared me to death.” He said, not louder than a whisper.
“Well I didn’t know I could walk into my own kitchen that I paid for.” She spit. It was far too early for shit
“Didn’t mean it like that, sorry.” Ah, there he goes again, apologizing for shit he shouldn’t. But it would make everything a bit less hard on him.
“Where’s Alune?” His mother said again.
“Asleep, she slept in late, had to study for her chemistry exam.” Aphelios said as calmly as he could, praying his mother wouldn’t say what he feared.
“Wake her up.”
FUUUUCK
“Mom, please, she needs the time.” He tried to convince his mother, who only looked annoyed at his stupid suggestion.
“Should’ve thought about that before breaking the schedule. Go. Now.” She emphasized the last words with a harsh voice and made her point even clearer by tapping her finger on the desk along her words.
Aphelios sighed for the 4th time in that hour. He slowly went up the stairs, making his way into his young twin’s room.
It was stupid. Their mom had this unbearable need for them to do everything at the same time.
While growing up, they would go to the same school, same after school classes, same tutors, same everything. At first it was normal, she would dress them in the exact same outfits and colors when they were babies and toddlers, of course everyone found that cute, until they reached middle 5th grade and people started noticing their dynamic was… odd.
They used to go to violin classes together, but then Aphelios saw the Winter Olympics and fell in love with figure skating to the point that not even his mother could stop him from enrolling on it. After that, Alune was allowed to pick her own sport since they gave a chance to Ahpelios, so she picked ballet.
Those were the nice things about it. But they were limited, and most of them were ridiculous.
Like the fact they both had to be up at the same time, awake at the same time and at home at the same time. Her mother couldn’t stand seeing one without the other, if they were in front of her, it had to be together.
Aphelios opened the door slowly, peaking through it and feeling an immense amount of guilt hit him like a truck, but he knew if he let her sleep their mother would come wake her up herself, and she wasn’t gonna be as sweet as him.
He sat at the edge of the bed and brushed a few hairs out of her sister's face. He wishes he didn’t have to do this.
“Lunie” He spoke softly.
His sister scrunched her nose, slowly rubbing her face against the pillow, visibly tired.
“What time is it?”
She asked
“4:40”
That immediately woke Alune up, looking at her brother with a confused grim.
“The fuck you doing up then?”
“I couldn’t sleep. Started my day early.”
“Mom saw you?” She asked, more worried than anything.
“I’m so sorry.” Aphelios had to hold every single thread of willpower he had to keep the tears inside. Guilt was eating him alive,
“Please don’t, you’re not the one who made that stupid ass rule. Jesus Christ.” Alune got up from her bed, she was visibly pissed but the twin telekinesis told him she wasn’t mad at him.
“What color are we wearing today?” She screamed from the bathroom.
“White.”
“Bitch, you’re wearing a black sweatshirt.”
“It’s coming off, I’m wearing the dump him shirt.”
He replied.
Alune snorted and went back to doing her own thing while aphelios patiently waited for her to be finished, not wanting to go back to his mom without the twin.
“Hey, what time did you say the ice track was gonna be available?” Phel asked after a few minutes
“I mean, they said today from 9am to 6pm but you never know.”
“K, thanks.” He simply replied.
Once Alune was finished, both came downstairs, completed their routine as fast as they could and ran through the door.
Today they were starting a new school.
Second year of high school, half way through the semester… that could be fun.
And their mom couldn’t get them to be in the same class, which means that for the first time in their 17 years alive, they would be apart in school.
“And if anyone peaks on you, tell me and I’ll come kick their ass.” She warned.
Aphelios had used almost all his available voice and Alune knew this, which gave her the perfect opportunity to be overprotective and annoying without him doing anything about it, only nod and roll his eyes.
“And if you get stuck in an assignment you can just text me and I’ll come help you” Al right someone cut this chick off.
“ With all due respect, you’re crazy.” He had to sign this time.
Alune let it slide after the bell rang and they inevitably had to go to their classes.
The twins shared a quick hug and went on their way.
Aphelios was scared, even the inhuman amount of air he was trying to fit into his lungs wasn’t enough. hHe would be lying if he said he wasn’t shitting his pants. But he had to do it.
After all, he just needed to get through his day before having all day to be on the ice.
Ah, he felt relaxed already.
11:38 am
DUDE WHAT THE FUCK?
Aphelios stood there, completely still as he saw a bunch of dudes dressed in heavy clothes and extravagant helmets, carrying unnecessarily long sticks across the field.
Hockey players.
Why did they have to be hockey players?
He was not only pissed but also embarrassed. He was wearing his previous dump him shirt, except he changed the jeans for tight leggings that went over his shoes, in order to cover the skates laces, he had removed all his piercings and make up and his ponytail was now a less messier one.
ALL FOR NOTHING???
He approached an old lady who was watching the tv in a little room not far from the bleachers.
“Excuse me? Wasn’t the track gonna be available today?” He asked with the clearest voice he could use at that moment.
“It is available.” The lady answered, immediately dismissing him and turning back to whatever cheap shit she was watching.
This made Aphelios’ blood boil.
“Well I can see that, but it was supposed to be available for figure skating” He tried to explain as calmly as he could.
“Look kid, I don’t say who uses it, you want to practice? Get here early.” The lady said again in that aggressive and careless tone.
Phel couldn’t do more than say a mumbled thanks and turn around to gather his stuff and leave.
When he was about to get to the bleachers, he felt a big structure in front of him.
For a moment he feared he had crashed against a wall, cause damn whatever it was, it was hard as fuck.
Aphelios reached to his head, knowing he had bumped it somewhere, but right when he was about to lose balance and fall back, a steady arm got wrapped around his shoulders.
“Hey man, are you okay?”
And he looked up.
And omafakingawd
He didn’t crash into a wall.
He crashed into a chest.
And that chest was connected to bold shoulders, thick neck, a gorgeous face… and the prettiest blue eyes he had ever seen in his life.
But he was an asshole
And a hockey player.
And so hot